CHARCOAL  DRAWINC 


KARL  ROBERT. 


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CHARCOAL  DRAWING 


WITHOUT  A MASTER. 


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KARL  ROBERT-LE^FUSAIN 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING 

WITHOUT  A MASTER 

A-  COMPLETE  PKACTICAL  TEEATISE  0^^  LANDSCAPE 
DRAWING  IN  CHARCOAL 


rOLLOAVED  BY  LESSONS  ON 

STUDIES  AFTER  ALLOUGfi 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FOURTH  EDITION,  BY 

ELIZABETH  HAVEN  APPLETON 


CINCINNATI 
ROBERT  CLARKE  & CO 
1880 


TO  MY  DEAR  MASTER, 


AUGUSTE  ALLONGE, 


HIS  AFFECTIONATE  PUPIL, 


IvAKL  EGBERT. 


TKANSLATOR’S  PREFACE. 


It  is  undeniable  that  lie  is  the  best  trans- 
lator who  can  transmute  the  spirit  of  one 
language  into  that  of  another.  To  translate 
properly  is  to  clothe  the  ideas  of  a foreign 
author  with  a garment  of  our  native  words 
which  shall  fit  them  as  well  as  did  their 
original  robe ; to  give  the  idiom  of  one  lan- 
guage by  its  corresponding  idiom  in  another ; 
not  simply  to  change  the  French  word  into 
an  English  one.  It  is  the  spirit  and  not  the 
letter  that  is  asked  for  by  the  reader. 

But  true  as  these  rules  may  be  when  we 
judge  of  translations  of  purely  literary  works, 
— history,  belles  lettres,  etc.— they  need  to 

(7) 


8 


translator’s  preface. 


be  applied  with  discretion  to  translations  of 
scientific  works  or  of  technical  treatises  like 
this  before  us.  There,  exactness  is  more 
needed  than  elegant  and  idiomatic  English. 

If,  in  the  chapters  on  the  Material  of  the 
Atelier  and  in  the  Lessons  from  the  Plates, 
I have  sacrificed  the  style  to  a careful  and 
close  rendering  of  the  words  of  Robert,  I am 
sure  that  the  student  who  makes  a practical 
use  of  this  book  will  thank  me  for  the  sac- 
rifice. E.  H.  A. 


PREFACE. 


Charcoal  Drawing  is  certainly  the  most 
rapid,  convenient  and  agreeable  method  of 
work  for  artists,  and  especially  for  amateurs, 
who  desire  to  bring  back  from  a journey  or 
an  excursion  any  notes  of  the  impression  pro- 
duced upon  them  by  the  scenes  they  have 
passed  through,  or  of  the  numerous  pictorial 
effects  which  nature  has  presented  to  them. 

The  use  of  charcoal  for  landscape  draw- 
ing is  only  of  a few  years’  standing,  but  it 
has  rapidly  become  popular,  because,  while  it 
does  not  exact  much  study,  it  gives  prompt 
and  satisfactory  results.  For  this  reason  we 
have  thought  it  might  be  useful  to  amateurs 

(9) 


10 


PREFACE. 


to  have  a practical  treatise  upon  the  differ- 
ent ways  of  executing  this  new  kind  of  draw- 
ing. 

Already  several  very  interesting  pam- 
phlets, written  on  this  subject,  have  initiated 
the  world  into  this  manner  of  interpreting 
nature.  But  most  of  these  works  have  either 
been  incomplete  or  have  treated  their  subject 
simply  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  author, 
generally  an  artist ; consequently  they  are 
without  those  simple  explanations  which  a 
student  needs — not  from  any  want  of  know- 
ledge in  the  author,  but,  on  the  contrary,  be- 
cause, being  an  artist,  he  has  forgotten  the 
difficulties  which  beset  a beginner.  Few 
artists  would  consent  to  undertake  a work 
which,  to  be  really  useful,  must  be  thoroughly 
jwactical  and  on  a level  with  the  student. 

In  the  treatise  which  we  submit  to  our 
readers,  they  may  see  that  we  have  made 
every  effort  to  be  as  clear  as  possible ; we 
have  not  been  afraid  to  enter  into  the  sim- 


PREFACE. 


11 


plest  details,  even  at  the  risk  of  being 
charged  with  puerility ; for  we  are  convinced, 
from  our  constant  intercourse  with  amateurs 
and  students,  that  it  is  precisely  that  very 
information  which  no  one  thinks  of  giving, 
because  it  appears  so  simple,  that  is  really  the 
most  needful  to  persons  pursuing  any  study 
whatever  without  the  help  of  a master. 


CHAECOAL  DEAWING. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING  AS  APPLIED  TO  THE 
HUMAN  FIGURE. 

It  does  not  appear,  from  the  examination 
of  the  cartoons  in  the  Museum  of  the  Louvre, 
that  the  ancient  painters  knew  any  thing  of 
Charcoal  Drawing.  The  honor  derived  from 
its  use  belongs  entirely  to  modern  artists ; 
nor  is  this  surprising,  since,  as  we  shall  see 
further,  the  very  invention  of  charcoal  cray- 
ons is  recent. 

The  first  application  of  Charcoal  Drawing 

(15) 


IG 


CHATICOAL  DRAWING. 


was  to  the  human  figure.  Certain  painters 
made  use  of  it,  at  first,  in  the  studies  for 
their  pictures. 

The  School  of  Fine  Arts  (L’Ecole  des 
Beaux-Arts)  admitted  it  at  once  for  the 
sketches  submitted  to  the  Academy ; and, 
little  by  little,  artists  carried  their  charcoal 
drawings  farther  than  mere  sketches ; for,  as 
they  found  that  this  new  kind  of  crayon  gave 
to  their  work  a stronger  character  than  those 
employed  before,  they  adopted  it  for  the  en- 
tire picture. 

The  employment  of  the  charcoal  crayon 
dates  from  the  years  1847  and  1848,  when  one 
of  the  greatest  French  historical  painters, 
Adolphe  Ivon,*  gave  his  earliest  studies  to  the 

^Adolphe  Ivon,  French  painter,  born  at  Esche- 
viller  (Moselle),  1817,  pupil  of  Paul  Delaroche,  made,  in 
1843,  a journey  to  Eussia,  whence  he  brought  back  a 
series  of  studies,  which  he  made  use  of  for  the  beauti- 
ful drawings  exhibited  at  the  Exposition  of  J847,  and  at 
that  of  1848.  He  sent  out,  next,  the  “ Battle  of  Kouli- 


ORIGIN  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING.  17 


public ; studies,  where,  by  the  aid  of  charcoal 
crayon,  heightened  sometimes  by  water  color 
or  by  oil,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  those 
brilliant  and  dramatic  effects  which  placed 
him  immediately  in  the  front  rank  of  modern 
artists.  The  Museum  of  Havre  possesses  a 
complete  example  of  his  finest  composition 
in  his  “Seven  Cardinal  Sins.” 

Later,  he  succeeded  in  reproducing,  in  this 

kowo,”  in  1850;  “Marshal  Ney  encouraging  the  Ar- 
riere  Guard”  tthe  Retreat  from  Russia),  in  1855;  “The 
Seven  Capital  Sins,”  also  in  1855;  “The  Taking  of 
Malakoff,”  1857;  “The  Gorge  of  Malakoff,”  1858; 
“ The  Fortifications  of  Malakoff,”  1859  ; and,  last,  “ The 
Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,”  in  1870. 
This  last  picture,  much  criticised,  is  none  the  less  a 
grand  page  in  history,  where  can  be  found  the  imprint 
of  strong  talent  joined  to  learned  composition.  M.  Ivon 
obtained  a first  medal  in  1848,  a second  medal  in  1855, 
the  grand  medal  of  honor  in  1857,  a second  medal  at 
the  Universal  Exposition  of  1866.  l!lamed  Chevalier 
the  Legion  of  Honor  in  1855,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
grade  of  officer  in  1867. 


18 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


manner,  certain  souvenirs  of  Russia,  where 
he  executed,  after  nature,  a series  of  studies 
which,  to-day,  have  become  very  valuable. 
He  proved  also,  by  drawings  made  to  illus- 
trate some  works  on  art  and  on  history,  espe- 
cially by  his  illustrations  of  the  History  of 
Russia,  that  this  kind  of  design  would  take 
the  place,  even  for  book  illustrations,  of  al- 
most all  the  processes  employed  before,  be- 
cause of  its  wonderful  power  of  giving  effect 
to  military  or  to  historical  scenes. 

In  our  time.  Charcoal  Drawing  has  been 
followed  by  genre  painters.  In  the  first  rank 
among  them  we  would  mention  E.  Bayard, 
whose  reputation  has  been  established  by  his 
souvenirs  of  that  year  so  fatal  to  us,  1870-71, 
and  by  his  charming  compositions,  Before'"^ 
and  After  the  War.”  M.  Gelibert  has  also 
employed  charcoal  with  success  and,  by  its 
use,  has  given  a still  greater  originality  to 
his  drawings  of  animals  and  to  his  hunting 


scenes. 


ORIGIN  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING.  19 


Painters  on  glass  have  made  use  of  char- 
coal, for  a long  time,  for  their  designs  or  pat- 
terns for  their  work,  on  account  of  the  facility 
of  treating  rapidly  the  shadows  of  drapery  or 
of  architecture  offered  them  by  the  charcoal 
crayon ; but  the  outlines  are  always  traced 
by  the  black  crayon  or  the’  lithographic  pen- 
cil, which  gives  them  a certain  required 
sharpness. 

The  names  which  we  have  cited  prove 
that  Charcoal  Drawing  lends  itself  easily  to 
any  artistic  reproductions,  that  it  can  reach 
up  to  high  art  as  well  as  it  can  throw  off  a 
mere  fantasy. 

But  it  excels  above  all  in  landscape,  as  we 
hope  to  prove ; and  it  is  for  this  reason  that 
this  branch  of  art  has  taken  so  firm  a posi- 
tion and  has  spread  itself  so  widely  and  rap- 
idly among  amateurs. 


<r^ 


OF  CHAECOAL  DEAWINO  AS  APPLIED  TO 
LANDSCAPE. 

ALLONGE,  APPIAN,  BELLEL,  T.ALANNE,  PvEYE. 

As  soon  as  tlie  first  start  was  given  to 
Charcoal  Drawing,  the  landscape  painters 
profited  most  by  it.  Even  Decamps  made 
use  of  it ; by  the  medium  of  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing he  gave  those  lovely  inspirations  and  that 
severe  style  which  made  such  an  impression 
on  the  artistic  world.  Troyon,  Paul  Huett 
and  others  followed  in  this  new  path, — and 
now  there  is  not  a landscape  painter  who 
does  not  put  a package  of  charcoal  crayons 
with  his  working  materials  when  he  starts  on 
an  excursion.  And  he  is  right.  This  means 
of  rendering  in  a few  minutes,  a view,  an 
(20) 


ORIGIN  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING.  21 


effect,  has  a charm  for  the  landscape  jDainter, 
who  can  thus  bring  back,  from  even  a short 
journey,  a collection  of  varied  studies,  each 
one  bearing  the  impress  of  nature.  More- 
over, the  new  material  aids  the  artist  in  his 
progress  by  giving  a variety  to  his  work 
which  can  never  be  attained  by  those  who  do 
not  make  use  of  it. 

Still,  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Charcoal 
Drawing  should  ever  take  the  place  of  paint- 
ing ; we  mean,  only',  that  the  study  of  it 
ought  to  precede  the  use  of  color,  and  we  are 
ready  to  affirm  that  every  artist  who  gives 
his  attention  to  that  study  will,  thereby, 
strengthen  his  talent. 

As  to  the  superiority  of  Charcoal  Drawing 
over  all  other  means  of  rendering  landscape, 
painting  excepted,  we  shall  not  here  undertake 
to  demonstrate  it.  M.  Allonge,  in  his  book, 
which  can  be  considered  as  the  “Esthetics  of 
Charcoal,”  has  well  shown  that  superiority  for 
a broad  interpretation  of  nature,  and  he  brings 


22 


CHAECOAL  DEAWING. 


out  the  full  value  of  the  charcoal  crayon, 
when  he  compares  it  with  the  black-lead  pen- 
cil, which  is  thin  and  harsh  even  in  rendering 
the  smallest  effects. 

To  appreciate  the  numberless  resources 
which  the  use  of  charcoal  offers,  we  have  only 
to  look  at  the  works  of  the  masters  who  have 
brought  it  to  perfection,  and  to  study  them 
carefully.  Messieurs  Allonge,  Appian,  Bellet, 
Lalanne,  each  in  a different  style,  have  ar- 
rived at  the  most  complete  results.  Bellet, 
' the  eldest,  seems  to  be  the  one  who  has  made 
the  fewest  concessions  to  modern  taste.  His 
fine  and  severe  compositions  come  evidently 
from  classic  models.  We  feel  there  an  inno- 
vation only  in  the  material  employed ; the 
mode  of  employment  remains  the  same,  the 
black  crayon  would  give  the  same  effects. 
The  other  masters,  on  the  contrary,  have 
changed,  if  I may  so  express  myself,  the  gen- 
eral tone  of  their  works : if  the  material  is 
new,  the  manner  of  working  it  is  so  likewise. 


OEIGIN  OF  CHAECOAL  DEAWING.  23 


And  all  these  artistically  capricious  methods 
of  working  in  charcoal  are  the  very  cause  of 
the  variety  we  find  in  it. 

Adolphe  Appian,  of  Lyons, ^ has  joined 
figure  to  landscape,  with  a wonderful  har- 
mony. Every  one  can  judge  of  his  success 
at  the  Luxembourg  Museum,  where  one  of 
his  finest  compositions,  “ The  Return  from  the 
Fields,”  was  placed  some  years  ago.  The 
landscape,  perhaps  sacrificed  a little  to  the 
figure,  is  not,  for  that,  the  less  broadly  treated ; 
but  how  fine  this  figure  is,  how  full  of  a 
charming  and  natural  grace ! Certainly  this 

* Adolphe  Appian,  born  at  Lyons,  pupil  of  L’Ecole 
des  Beaux-Arts  in  that  city,  and  of  Corot  and  Dau- 
bigny, exhibited  for  the  first  time  a design  in  charcoal, 
in  1855,  and  was  soon  publicly  noticed.  He  put  out, 
successively,  very  beautiful  charcoal  drawings  of  the 
borders  of  the  Isere,  of  the  valley  of  Optorez,  of  the 
environs  of  Nice,  etc.  This  artist  obtained  a medal  in 
Paris,  in  1868,  at  Eochelle,  at  Pengireaux,  at  Lyons, 
etc.,  and  recently,  in  Vienna,  two  gold  medals,  in  the 
departments  of  painting  and  of  etching. 


24 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


is  not  the  peasant  woman  of  our  modern  real- 
ists. The  artist  has  put  his  heart  in  it,  and, 
under  this  rustic  dress,  it  is  rather  the  mother 
than  the  peasant  woman  that  he  has  tried  to 
make  us  admire.  Unhappily,  the  works  of 
this  master  are  not  yet  much  known  in  Paris ; 
the  people  of  Lyons,  who  admire  him,  have 
monopolized  him  almost  entirely,  and  then 
Charcoal  Drawing  gains  a footing  in  Paris 
only  little  by  little,  thanks  to  the  efforts  of 
some  merchants  connected  with  artists.*  Here 
we  should  like  to  relate  an  anecdote,  which 
proves  the  want  of  intelligence  of  those  peo- 
ple who  are  in  the  best  position  to  make  a 
new  talent  known  to  the  world. 

M.  Appian,  as  modest  as  he  is  full  of 
talent,  wished,  some  time  ago,  to  let  himself 

* We  mention  especially  M.  Dangleterre,  picture 
framer,  Hue  de  Seine,  who,  in  1855,  divined,  from  the 
early  works  of  M.  Allonge,  what  that  young  artist 
would  become;  and,  in  the  same  way,  M.  Berville  savv 
the  future  merit  of  Ma:xime  Lalanne. 


ORIGIN  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING.  25 


be  known  in  Paris  as  an  artist  in  charcoal ; 
his  merit  as  a painter  being  already  estab- 
lished, as  it  had  brought  him  a medal  at  the 
Exposition.  He  called  the  attention  of  the 
best  known  picture  dealer  in  Paris  to  the 
study  of  Charcoal  Drawing ; and,  on  offering 
to  place  one  of  his  drawings  in  his  shop,  ob- 
tained the  privilege  as  a great  fay  or.  A short 
time  afterward,  he  found  this  very  drawing  in 
a loft,  the  glass  which  covered  it  broken,  the 
drawing  in  a pitiable  state.  Then  he  deter- 
mined neyer  to  make  the  trial  again.  We 
hope,  however,  that  the  eminent  artist  will  re- 
consider this  decision,  which  is  to  be  regretted 
by  every  lover  of  Charcoal  Drawing. 

Maxime  Lalanne  is  one  of  those  land- 
scape artists  who  strike  at  first  sight  by  their 
originality.  What  does  he  need  to  make  a 
charcoal  sketch?  A corner,  an  old  street, 
a chateau  in  ruins.  Sober  in  details,  he 
treats  Charcoal  Drawing  a little  too  much  like 


26 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


etching,  in  which  he  excels,  but  what  poetry, 
what  perfect  taste  in  his  choice  of  a subject! 
^ “Allonge,”'  said  once  F.  Petit,  the  learned 

* Auguste  Allonge,  born  in  Paris  in  1833,  pupil  of 
L’Ecole  des  Beaux- Arts,  rewarded  by  a medal  in  tlie 
School,  in  1853;  crowned  by  the  Academy,  in  1854;  ex- 
hibiting, for  the  first  time,  at  the  Universal  Exposition 
cf  1858,  a large  design,  “ Souvenir  of  the  “ Gorge-aux- 
Loups  ;”  and  after  this,  every  year,  paintings  and  draw- 
ings. The  best  known  are  “ The  Ponds  of  Pcray,” 
charcoal ; “ Sheep  in  the  Island  of  Creteil,”  a painting  ; 
“The  Fountain  of  Sainte-Barbe”  (Morbihan),  char- 
coal; “The  Sea  at  Portrieux ;”  “ The  Willow  Thicket 
Inundated,”  1866,  a charcoal  drawing,  bought  by  M. 
Prince  Stirbey;  “The  Yalley  of  Gouet,”  1868,  paint- 
ing; “The  Beach  at  Tillers, ” painting;  “The  Footpath 
to  the  Fountain”  (Tillers),  charcoal,  1839  ; “October  in 
the  Forest,”  painting;  “ The  Talley  of  Hygeres,”  char- 
coal, 1870;  “Tiew  of  the  City  of  Puy,”  painting, 
bought  by  the  government ; “ Solitude,”  charcoal,  1872  ; 
the  Salon  of  1873,  and  the  Exposition  in  Tienna,  1873, 
belonging  to  M.  Delaporte,  of  St.  Quentin;  “L’Hj^ere 
a Crosne,”  painting ; “The  Pool,”  a charcoal  drawdng, 
bought  by  M.  the  Count  of  Audiffret.  And,  at  the  last 


ORIGm  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING.  27 


artistic  expert,  “Allonge  is  Charcoal  Drawing, 
and  Charcoal  Drawing  is  simply  Allonge.” 
Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  this  master  has 
given  every  effect  possible  to  his  material. 
Let  him  treat  a woodland  scene,  the  banks 
of  a river,  a group  of  willows,  the  open 
country,  mountains  or  sea,  we  feel  always 
the  artist,  born  painter,  who  paints  by  the 
help  of  a single  color.  But  what  myriads 
of  tones  in  this  blackness  of  charcoal ! What 
a just  feeling  of  values,  what  a charm  in 
that  perspective  full  of  light,  in  those  forms, 
always  elegant  and  graceful ! 

To  conclude,  amateurs  may  see  now,  at 
Messieurs  Groupil,  Boulevard  Montmartre,  a 
new  style  of  Charcoal  Drawing ; I mean  the 

Salon,  “The  Sea,”  a picture,  bought  by  the  govern- 
ment ; “ A Farm  of  N’ormandy,”  charcoal,  bought  by  M. 
Colas.  Since  he  gained  his  medal  at  L’Ecole  des  Beaux- 
Arts,  M.  Allonge  has  obtained  a large  number  of  prizes  ; 
at  Paris,  in  186G,  for  Fine  Arts  applied  to  Industry,  the 
first  gold  medal,  at  Havre,  La  Eochelle,  Bourges,  etc. 


28  CHAKCOAL  DRAWING. 

works  of  M.  Reye.  Although  we  are  not 
very  partial  to  his  manner  of  interpreting 
A nature  by  means  of  an  absolute  white  and 
an  intense  black,  applied  to  a paper  first 
covered  with  gum  and  spread  with  white 
lead,  yet  we  recognize  the  true  talent  there 
to  be  taken  into  account,  and  we  see  that, 
if  the  artist  would  conform  to  modern  tastes 
and  ideas,  he  would  be  very  near  taking 
rank  as  a master.  It  is  above  all  in  half 
tints  and  distant  j^lanes  that  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing has  its  great  charm ; thus  any  one  who 
neglects  these,  becomes  harsh.  M.  Reye  is 
a pupil  of  Calame  and  he  has  not  yet  laid 
aside  the  mantle  of  his  master.  Now,  Ca- 
lame, who  had  a well-deserved  success  in  his 
own  time,  is  a little  out  of  fashion  in  our 
day ; and  this  is  not  surprising,  landscape 
painting  having  made  considerable  progress 
in  fifty  years.  We  hope  that  M.  Reye  will 
pardon  us  our  frankness,  but  if  we  permit 
ourselves  to  judge  in  this  way  his  original 


OEIGIN  OF  CHAECOAL  DEAWING.  29 


works,  it  is  because  we  are  convinced  that 
the  public  may  discuss  his  talent  to-day,  and 
even  criticise  it,  only  to  admire  it  to-morrow 
without  restriction. 

Considered  from  the  amateur’s  point  of 
view.  Charcoal  Drawing  is  the  only  study 
that  can  give  a serious  result  to  amateur 
work ; and  if  every  father  of  a family  un- 
derstood what  resources  were  to  be  found 
against  idleness  in  developing’  in  young  peo- 
ple a taste  for  drawing  by  this  simple  means, 
there  soon  would  not  be  a man  having  re- 
ceived a certain  amount  of  education,  who 
would  not  know  how  to  employ  his  leisure 
agreeably  in  the  country,  or  even  in  a city, 
where  every  one  vrould  take  pleasure  in 
passing  his  evenings  in  his  own  family,  seated 
before  his  easel. 

We  go  out  of  our  subject,  it  is  true,  but 
we  have  always  regretted  that  in  our  schools, 
of  art  the  study  of  landscape  is  set  aside. 
Certainly  we  do  not  wish  to  deny  the  utility 


30 


CHAUCOAL  DRAWING. 


of  academic  studies,  but  out  of  the  hundred 
young  men  who  follow  a course  of  design, 
ten  or  twenty,  perhaps,  profit  really  by  the 
instruction  which  is  given  them;  the  others, 
on  the  contrary,  taking  for  excuse  their  want 
of  taste,  become  discouraged  and  make  no 
progress.  This  would  never  happen  if  the 
study  of  landscape  was  admitted ; then,  on 
leaving  the  school,  loving  an  art  in  which 
they  had  acquired  a certain  facility,  they 
would  devote  th^ir  leisure  to  it. 


THE  FUKNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER, 


THE 


FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER; 


If  it  has  passed  into  a proverb  that  he  is 
a bad  workman  who  complains  of  his  tools, 
it  is  certain  that  to  have  good  ones  simplifies 
work,  renders  it  more  agreeable  and  brings 
a more  satisfactory  result.  Therefore  we 
shall  not  be  afraid  of  being  too  diffuse  in 
this  chhpter,  or  of  entering  into  the  small- 
est details  concerning  the  different  access- 
ories necessary  to  the  study  of  Charcoal 
Drawing.  Whether  you  are  an  artist  by  pro- 

CSS) 


34 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


fession  or  are  only  a lover  of  sketching*, 
surround  yourself  with  every  thing  that  can 
be  useful  to  you,  and,  believe  the  words  of 
experience,  ^you  will  gain  a serious  advan- 
tage from  this  precaution. 


The  Easel. 


The  furniture  of  an  atelier  is  composed, 
first,  of  an  easel ; and  we  believe,  if  one  does 
much  work,  it  will  be  best  to  procure  a me- 
chanical easel,  called  the  Easel  Bonhomme, 
because  the  common  easels  with  three  feet, 
very  convenient  for  small  drawings,  will  not 
support  the  frame  sufficiently  if  you  are 
working  upon  a design  larger  than  the  board 
called  the  supporter ; for  then  there  will  be 
constantly  a movement  from  right  to  left 
and  from  left  to  right,  under  the  pressure 


THE  FUKNITUKE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  35 


of  the  hand  during  the  work.  If  you  can 
not  obtain  an  easel  Bonhomme,  you  may 
make  use  of  the  common  easel  with  three 
feet,  which  is  much  less  costly  and  almost 
as  convenient.  And  you  can  even  obviate 
the  inconvenience  of  which  we  spoke  above, 
by  placing  at  the  height  of  about  twenty-two 
inches  on  the  movable  supporter  when  it  is 
arranged  for  the  hand  in  working  seated,  a 
cross-piece  of  wood,  fixed  by  nails  or  move- 
able  by  the  help  of  screws  held  by  small 
nuts ; a cross-piece,  which,  being  of  the  same 
size  as  the  supporter,  will  very  easily  hold 
the  frame.  This  will  not  be  very  agreeable 
to  the  sight,  but  it  will  render  the  same  ser- 
vice as  the  mechanical  easel.  If  you  prefer 
the  latter,  take  one  with  a fixed  stand,  less 
easily  broken  than  a sliding  stand.  ' We  say 
nothing  of  the  easels  provided  with  pulleys ; 
they  are  seldom  used  now,  on  account  of  the 
difficulty,  when  the  supporting  board  is  once 


36 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


raised,  of  drawing  it  down  at  need  without 
shaking  it. 

As  to  the  easel  for*  holding  the  model, 
with  a singte  stand  and  cross  feet,  it  is,  in 
our  opinion,  altogether  useless,  seeing  that, 
by  the  help  of  a hook  fixed  at  the  top  of 
the  easel  on  which  you  are  working,  you  can 
always  hang  up  your  model,  which  will  be 
supported  by  the  very  frame  on  Avhich  you 
are  making  your  copy.  If  the  model  is  too 
large  to  permit  this  arrangement,  you  can 
place  it  on  a chair,  on  a table  easel  or  on 
a common  one ; but  in  no  case  should  you 
make  use  of  the  model-bearing  easel,  which 
is  never  firm  enough  to  hold  a large  draw- 
ing, and  which  the  least  touch  would  shake. 


THE  FURNITUEE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  37 


The  Frame. 


In  the  atelier,  a frame  is  the  best  thing 
on  which  to  stretch  your  paper,  it  is  also 
the  cheapest,  and  indeed  it  is  the  only  thing 
which  stretches  well  and  which  oiFers  a proper 
resistance.  The  frame  ought  to  be  made 
like  those  which  you  employ  for  canvas,  but 
it  need  not  be  furnished  with  braces.  And, 
moreover,  it  will  be  found  convenient  to  at- 
tach^ to  it,  at  the  middle  of  the  back,  a 
cross-piece  of  wood,  which,  when  the  draw- 
ing is  finished,  will  permit  you  to  hold  it 
easily  in  order  to  set  it. 

^ We  say  “attach,”  because  if  you  insert  the  cross- 
piece into  the  frame,  as  you  do  in  those  used  for 
canvas,  you  will  find  it  troublesome  to  set  the  draw- 
ing, the  brush  not  passing  easily  under  the  bar. 


38 


CHAECOAL  DEAWING. 


You  must  not  be  discouraged  if,  the  first 
time  you  stretch  your  paper,  the  result  is 
not  jDerfect.  It  is  a matter  of  habit,  and  we 
assure  yoi\  that,  if  you  conform  exactly  to  the 
instructions  which  we  give  you  here,  you 
will  succeed  in  stretching  your  paper  rapidly, 
without  wrinkles,  which  never  can  be  done 
with  the  ordinary  stretcher. 

To  stretch  your  paper,  after  having  cut 
it  large  enough  to  overlap  the  frame  about 
an  inch  and  a half  on  each  side,  you  lay  it 
on  a table,  the  right  side  or,  better,  the 
grain^  of  the  paper,  against  the  table ; then, 
by  the  help  of  a little  sponge,  you  moisten 
the  wrong  side  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
The  paper  thoroughly  moistened,  you  lay 
the  frame  upon  it  and  fasten  one  of  the  sides 
with  tacks,  one  in  the  middle  and  one  at 
each  end.  This  done,  you  turn  your  frame, 
and  repeat  the  same  operation  for  the  oppo- 
site side,  then  go  on  in  the  same  way  for 
the  other  two  sides,  taking  care  to  press 


THE  EURNITUEE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  39 


down  the  corners  of  the  paper  in  drawing 
them  a little  over  the  edge  of  the  frame. 
This  work  ought  to  he  done  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  When  the  paper  is  thus  held  at 
each  of  the  four  sides  by  the  three  tacks,  . 
you  should  place  between  them  as  many 
other  nails  as  you  think  needed,  according 
to  the  size  of  the  paper. 

To  stretch  a paper  well,  put  tacks-  at  dis- 
tances of  about  an  inch  and  a half  and,  whilst 
you  are  putting  them  in,  draw  the  paper,  so  as 
to  stretch  it  as  much  as  possible  while  it  is 
moist,  but  do  this  gently,  that  it  may  not 
tear  under  your  hands.  This  work  finished, 
let  the  paper  dry  at  the  temperature  of  the 
weather ; at  the  end  of  a half  hour  in  winter 
and  a quarter  of  an  hour  in  summer,  it  will  be 
as  well  stretched  as  a painting  can  vas.  In  win- 
ter you  must  be  very  careful  not  to  dry  it  be- 
fore the  fire  for,  in  that  case,  the  paper  will 
wrinkle  at  a lower  temperature  and  become 
loosened  while  you  are  working  at  it. 


40 


CHAKCOAL  DRAWING. 


The  Stretcher, 


All  instrument  composed  of  two  frames 
shut,  one  into  the  other,  or  placed  and  held, 
one  above  the  other,  by  means  of  brads  and 
clasps  ; this  is  used  very  commonly  for  stretch- 
ing the  paper  in  Charcoal  Drawing.  For  the 
firsf  kind  of  stretcher,  you  need  only  place 
the  moistened  paper  over  the  larger  frame, 
then,  placing  the  second  frame  upon  the  first, 
press  it  until  you  close  the  machine.  For  the 
second  kind  of  stretcher,  the  use  of  it  is  still 
more  simple  ; you  place  the  paper  very  evenly 
between  the  two  frames  and  fold  them  at 
once,  one  over  the  other.  This  stretcher  is 
convenient  for  out-of-door  sketching,  since  you 
do  not  need  all  the  apparatus  of  the  frame, 
nails,  hammer,  etc.,  but  it  is  very  inferior  for 


THE  FURNITUKE.  OF  THE  ATELIER.  41 

work  in  the  atelier.  The  stretcher  with 
clasps,  drawing  horizontally  upon  the  paper, 
tears  it  easily  when  it  dries  and  stretches. 
The  other  instrument,  drawing  the  paper  by 
means  of  a ledge  which  enters  one  of  the 
frames  from  the  other,  tears  it  very  easily 
also,  especially  in  the  corners.  But  there  is  a 
third  stretcher  which  combines  all  the  desired 
conditions.  It  is  composed  of  two  frames 
which,  laid  over  each  other,  shut  together  by 
means  of  an  interior  groove.  Moreover,  it  is 
improved  by  a frame  covered  with  linen  or 
muslin,  which  permits  you  to  carry  the  draw- 
ing, without  injury,  before  it  is  set.  In  this 
way,  you  may  give  several  days  to  a draw- 
ing from  nature.  This  stretcher  has  not  the 
fault  of  the  first  mentioned,  because  the  cor- 
ners are  free,  and  it  does  not  tear  the  paper, 
like  the  second,  because  the  tension  is  not 
horizontal.  But,  to  be  absolutely  perfect,  this 
machine  needs  such  care  in  its  construction. 


42 


CHAECOAL  ,DEAWING. 


that  the  price  is  necessarily  too  high  to  j iistify 
any  merchant  in  keeping  it  on  hand. 


The  Charcoal  Crayons.* 


You  can  certainl}^  draw  with  all  kinds  of 
charcoal  crayons ; nevertheless,  it  is  well  to 
have,  for  landscape  drawing  in  charcoal,  those 
of  a superior  quality.  The  common  crayon 
used  in  sketching,  ought  to  be  rejected,  for  it 
is  better  to  employ,  for  the  sketch,  the  same 
crayon  which  is  used  to  finish  the  drawing. 
The  artists’  charcoal  crayon,  marked  E..  Gr.  M., 
is  certainly  the  best.  It  is  the  natural  wood, 

V 

* Fusain,  s.  m.  Term  of  botan)^.  A shrub  which 
grows  naturally  along  hedges,  whose  wood  serves  to 
make  distatfs,  spindles,  carding  needles,  etc. ; or,  re- 
duced to  charcoal,  is  employed  to  draw  light  sketches. 
Spindle-tree  or  Prick  wood  (Euonymus). — Dictionary  of 
the  Academy. 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  43 


and  simply  charred  with  care;  unctions  and 
pleasant  to  handle,  it  gives  the  most  intense 
blacks  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  softest 
grays  for  the  background  and  the  more  dis- 
tant planes,  when  you  work  it  down  with 
a stomp.  For  details  and  fine  branches  it  is 
well  to  make  use  of  a crayon  made  from  the 
little  shrub  called  mignonette,^  which,  harder 
than  the  other,  is  quite  as  black  and  does  not 
crumble  from  the  pressure  of  the  hand.  It 
can  be  cut  to  as  fine  a point  as  possible,  so 
that  you  can  render  with  it  the  most  tender 
twigs  and  the  lightest  details. 

The  Yenitian  charcoal  crayon  is  not  bad, 
but  it  is  no  better  than  the  R.  Gr.  M.,  and  it 
costs  much  more.  There  is  also  the  charcoal 
crayon  made  from  the  broom  handle ; f a kind 
of  hard  wood,  thick  as  a candle,  which,  cut 

* A viiriety  of  Besida^  with  a woody  stem,  lar^^er 
than  the  mignonette  cultivated  here. 

f Rather  indefinite,  as  we  do  not  know  from  what 
kind  of  wood  broom  handles  are  made  in  France. 


44 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


flat,  serves  well  for  skies,  and  for  even  tints 
on  a broad  surface. 

But  there  is  a kind  of  crayon  called  soaked 
{trempe)  which  you  must  never  use.  These 
crayons,  which  are  nothing  but  common  char- 
coal dipped  into  a comjiosition  making  a 
black  liquid,  are  far  from  having  the  worth  of 
the  natural  crayon.  Dry  and  hard,  they  in- 
terfere continually  with  good  work  and  are, 
at  the  very  best,  only  fit  for  sketches.  I 
know  that  the  paper  in  which  they  are 
wrapped  is  a great  attraction ; but,  in  this 
case,  contrary  to  the  proverb,  the  flag  does 
not  cover  the  merchandise. 

We  do  not  approve  of  vigorous  retouches 
by  the  aid  of  the  black  or  lithographic  crayon. 
They  take  from  the  Charcoal  Drawing  the 
softness  which  characterizes  it ; but  still  there 
are  some  cases  where  a sharp  touch  is  useful. 
The  crayon  H.  Conte  is,  then,  the  best  to  em- 
ploy. Pulverized  charcoal  is  now  used,  some- 
times, for  skies,  background  and  retouches. 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  45 


The  Paper. 

In  the  two  most  interesting  and  most  prac- 
tical pamphlets  which  have  been  written  on 
Charcoal  Drawing,  those  of  Lalanne  and  of 
Allonge,  there  is  such  a direct  opposition  in 
the  recommendations  of  the  paper  to  be  em- 
ployed, that  we  will  quote  the  two  para- 
graphs and  give  afterward  our  own  opinion 
on  the  subject,  specifying  the  manner  in 
which  the  student  may  use  with  advantage 
either  kind  of  paper. 

M.  Lalanne  says,  “If  the  paper  has  a 
certain  roughness,  like  that  of  grained  paper, 
it  will  catch  the  friable  particles  of  the  char- 
coal and,  whatever  be  the  subject  you  wish  to 
treat,  you  will  do  w^ell,  after  having  cut  your 
crayon,  to  pass  a general  tone  over  every 


46 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


thing,  which  will  give,  as  it  were,  a com- 
mencement of  values.  You  will  not  have  to 
work  afterwards  on  a white  surface,  but  upon  a 
preparatory  background  already  established. 
This  value  may  be  modified  according  to  the 
different  planes  of  the  subject.”  In  Allonge 
we  find,  on  the  contrary,  “ What  forces  me  to 
condemn  those  papers  which  have  too  rough  a 
grain,  or  any  regular  divisions,  is  that  I find 
it  absolutely  necessary,  for  the  background,  to 
be  able  to  lighten  the  tone,  in  order  to  render 
it  more  delicate,  in  accordance  with  its  plane, 
however  vigorous  it  may  be  as  a tone.  The 
same  is  true  in  the  representation  of  water. 
Yow,  if  the  grain  of  the  paper  gives,  in  the 
background,  the  same  effects  as  in  the  fore- 
ground, it  forces  you  to  lea\  e,  in  your  Avork, 
sharp,  white  points  in  every  light,  however 
much  these  lights  may  differ  the  one  from 
the  other;  you  will  have  neither  jhanes  nor 
values,  for  this  white  grain  will  render  the 
yellow  as  well  as  the  green,  the  dull  tones  as 


THE  FUENITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  47 


well  as  the  brilliant  ones,  and  the  pictorial 
aspects  of  your  work  will  disappear.” 

This  objection  to  the  employment  of  rough 
paper  appears  to  us  very  just;  for,  putting 
aside  the  fact  that  it  is  very  difficult,  in  pre- 
paring a general  tone  as  M.  Lalanne  directs, 
to  obtain,  with  such  paper,  a fine,  even  and 
every-where  equal  tone  where  the  grain  shall 
not  appear,  we  meet,  in  using  it,  another 
obstacle.  Between  the  roughnesses  which 
catch  the  crayon,  we  see  the  tint  of  the  pa- 
per itself;  and  this,  far  from  giving  a fresh 
and  distant  tone,  leads  the  pupil  to  make 
drawings  in  which  the  sky  and  the  water  are 
unsteady,  and  where  the  ground  itself  wants 
solidity.  Moreover,  this  paper  is  so  light  in 
its  quality  that  it  is  difficult  to  use  it  on  the 
frame  or  on  the  stretcher.  It  can  only  be 
used  on  blocks  or  on  a pasteboard  as  it  is  pre- 
pared for  the  Academy ; this  can  never  give 
the  delicacy  of  paper  that  is  stretched. 

But  still,  we  must  not  condemn  this  rough 


48 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


paper  entirely : in  the  first  place,  because  M. 
Lalanne,  making  use  of  it  with  his  talent,  has 
really  obtained  J:he  result  of  which  he  speaks  ; 
and  secondly,  because  we  believe  that,  in  cer- 
tain cases,  it  facilitates  execution,  especially 
when  you  wish  to  reproduce  ruins,  villages,  old 
picturesque  streets  and  buildings  in  fact. 
But  we  must  proscribe  this  paper  on  princi- 
ple, in  all  teaching,  because  in  using  it  the 
23upil  will  have  to  conquer  difficulties  which  a 
good  paper  does  not  present.  Therefore,  we 
advise  the  papers  used  by  M.  Allonge  and  M. 
Appian,  which  are  a dull  yellow  or  else  white, 
with  a fine  and  even  grain.  With  these  papers 
you  can  treat  every  subject,  provided  you 
know  how  to  modify  and  vary  your  work  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  subject  you  wish 
to  reproduce. 

There  is  no  other  special  precaution  to  be 
given  with  regard  to  the  paper,  except  to  keep 
it  always  pure  and  clean,  and,  in  putting  it  on 
the  frame  or  on  the  stretcher,  to  take  care  not 


THE  FURNITURE'  OF  THE  ATELIER.  49 


to  moisten  the  side  on  which  you  are  going  to 
draw,  as  this  makes  spots  which  are  difficult 
to  get  rid  of. 

We  never  employ,  and  we  counsel  our 
readers  against  employing,  tinted  papers.  If 
you  desire  to  obtain  a general  yellow  tint, 
dissolve  a little  saffron  in  your  white  fixative. 


Stomps,  Spills,  Pank,  W'adding,  Linen 
and  Woolen  Rags,  Pith  of  the  Elder- 
Bush,  The  Employment  and  the  Pre- 
servation of  Bread-Crumbs. 


All  these  accessories  and  their  manner 
of  employment  have  so  much  importance,  in 
our  opinion,  that  w^e  can  not  content  ourselves 
with  simply  giving  a list  of  them. 

The  paper  stomp  is  that  most  frequently 
used.  All  paper  stomps,  being  made  in  the 
same  way,  are  equally  good ; to  keep  them  so, 


50 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


you  have  only  to  press  them  with  care,  im- 
mediately after  your  work,  to  prevent  them 
from  losing  their  point ; otherwise  you  can  no 
longer  obtain  delicate  results — they  will  be 
good  for  nothing  except  for  flat  work. 

The  flat  stomp,  called  the  hare’s  foot,  is 
very  useful  for  obtaining  a uniform  tone  on  a 
broad  surface ; you  should  always  use  it  for 
reflections  in  the  water. 

Amongst  other  stomps,  those  of  leather,  of 
silk,  of  cork,  etc.,  the  leather  stomp  is  the 
only  one  which  appears  to  us  of  any  use  in 
Charcoal  Drawing.  It  obtains  clear  tones 
and  half-tints.  It  is  generally  used  in  broad 
tints,  wdiich  the  paper  stomp  would  not  make 
lio’ht  enough  and  which  bread-crumb  would 
make  too  light. 

Spills  render  nearly  the  same  service  as 
paper  stomps,  especially  for  small  surfaces. 
They  are  more  supple,  more  agreeable  to  han- 
dle and,  besides,  much  cheaper.  Indeed,  you 


THE  FURNITUEE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  51 


can  make  them  yourself  with  gray  paper, 
blotting  paper  or  silk  paper. 


The  Rag. 


To  pass  a general  tone  over  your  paper, 
and  take  from  it  the  crudeness  of  the  white, 
and  also  to  obtain  sky  values,  you  should  gen- 
erally use  the  palm  of  the  hand  or  the  four 
lingers  joined,  after  having  laid  on,  as  regu- 
larly as  possible,  the  quantity  of  charcoal 
necessary  to  obtain  the  regular  values.  But 
if  you  want  a brilliant  and  clear  sky  ordrans- 
parent  and  luminous  water,  the  use  of  a piece 
of  old  linen  or  of  old  cotton  is  excellent.  You 
must  roll  up  the  rag  so  that  it  may  present  a 
broad  and  even  surface,  then,  turning  it  from 
the  bottom  of  your  paper  toward  the  top,  you 
can  spread  the  charcoal.  But,  to  prevent  this 


52 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


operation  from  doing  harm  to  the  work  which 
follows  it,  it  must  he  performed  with  skill ; it 
should  he  done,  so  to  say,  at  the  first  trial ; 
otherwise,  if  you  are  obliged  to  make  several 
attempts,  the  charcoal,  sinking  too  much  into 
the  paper,  will  give  a tone  either  too  light  or 
too  dark,  according  to  the  quantity  first  placed 
there ; and  then,  even  with  the  help  of  hread- 
crumh,  you  can  never  obtain  a fresh  light  nor 
a brilliant  and  lively  tone  to  lighten  a cloud 
or  a sunbeam  on  the  water.  To  obtain  this 
same  general  tone,  many  persons  use  glove 
kid,  punk,  wadding,  etc.  But  these  are  infe- 
rior to  the  rags ; they  are  more  difficult  to 
use,  they  often  make  spots  or  cottony,  heavy, 
disagreeable  skies.  You  may  use  them  to 
mark  out  the  clouds,  but  not  for  the  tone  of 
the  background  or  clear  sky,  which  ought 
always  to  be  smooth  and  even.  You  can  ob- 
tain this  tone  only  by  the  aid  of  the  rag.  Use, 
for  that  purpose,  j)ulverized  charcoal,  covering 
with  it  the  roll  of  cloth  which  we  have  just 


THE  FUEI^ITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  53 


described.  This  will  give  a soft  and  light 
tone,  one  on,  which  you  then  can  model  your 
clouds. 


The  Bread-Crumb. 


Carefully  crumbled  and  worked  into  a flat 
or  pointed  lump,  it  is  used,  as  we  know,  for 
the  most  brilliant  lights.  You  must  always 
use  stale,  home-made  bread ; fresh  bread  will 
grease  the  paper  and  injure  your  retouches. 
To  keep  your  bread-crumb,  you  must  press  it 
into  a little  metal  box,  lead  or  tin,  such  as  are 
sold  for  snuff-boxes.  In  that  way,  you  can 
keep  it  two  or  three  days,  according  to  the 
season.  This  is  a very  convenient  way  of 
keeping  it,  especially  on  excursions ; the  box 
of  bread-crumb  takes  up  but  little  space  and 
yet  you  can  press  in  enough  to  serve  for  sev- 
eral drawings. 


54 


CHAECOAL  DEAWINO. 


The  Eraser. 


This  iEstriiment  fills  a role  important 
enough  in  Charcoal  Drawing  to  make  it  neces- 
sary to  choose  it  with  care ; it  is  used  to  ob- 
tain middle  tints  in  the  details  of  the  work, 
where  the  stomp  or  the  spill  would  not  give 
enough  delicacy  of  touch.  You  may  use  it  ad- 
vantageously for  the  foliage  of  trees  on  the 
second  plane,  and  also  on  the  first  planes,  to 
mark  out  grass,  furze  and  reeds.  Let  the 
eraser  he  always  very  sharp,  otherwise  it  will 
take  off  the  surface  of  the  paper  and,  in  fix- 
ing the  drawing,  the  liquid  will  make  a smutch. 
The  common  eraser,  fixed  or  shutting  into  its 
case  by  means  of  a groove,  is  excellent ; but 
what  is  still  better  is  the  eraser  called  the 
scalpel.  With  the  point  you  can  obtain  a 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  55 


great  delicacy  of  touch  and  with  the  edge 
you  may  work  upon  broader  surfaces  than 
with  the  common  eraser.  Moreover,  this 
eraser  is  more  conveniently  held  between  the 
fingers  and  allows  you  to  work  always  in  the 
same  direction. 


The  Fixative. 


DIFFERENT  WAYS  OF  FIXING  OR  SETTING  THE  CHARCOAL. 


Indirect  Fixation  (the  fixative  a])plied  to  the 
hack  of  the  pa]oer'). — The  fixing  of  Charcoal 
Drawing,  when  the  work  is  finished,  needs 
very  great  care.  There  have  been  many  prep- 
arations employed  up  to  this  time ; but  we 
must  confess  that  none  of  them  give  a posi- 
tively good  result.  You  may  suspect  quack- 
ery in  all  those  inventors  who  claim  complete 


56 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


f 

success  on  this  point.  The  first  fixative  em- 
ployed was  that  of  Durozier,  used  especially 
by  painters  on  glass.  It  sets  the  drawing 
well  and  is  well  enough  for  sketches  on 
pasteboard,  etc. ; but  it  gives  to  the  paper  a 
very  disagreeable  yellow  tone  which  destroys 
its  effect ; above  all,  it  hurts  an  effect  of  light. 
Moreover,  in  passing  over  the  paper,  it  gives 
a shiny  look  to  the  drawing,  Avhich  takes 
away  the  principal  charm  of  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing, that  dead  tone  which  gives  its  value  and 
its  harmony. 

The  other  fixatives,  those  of  M.  Douget, 
M.  Berville,  etc.,  being  of  nearly  the  same 
composition,  give  about  the  same  result,  in 
spite  of  the  claims  of  their  inventors ; but 
the  fixative  Meusnier,  adopted  by  Allonge  and 
his  pupils,  who  prefer  it  to  all  others,  has  the 
advantage  of  ’ being  suitable  for  direct  fixa- 
tion without  the  necessity  of  cleaning  the  ap- 
paratus during  the  work,  a disagreeable  oper- 
ation of  which  ^^e  shall  speak  presently.  As 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  57 


to  the  manner  of  fixing  the  drawing,  it  is  the 
opinion  generally  adopted  and  the  only  true 
one,  that  Charcoal  Drawings  fixed  on  the 
back  of  the  paper,  are  always  the  most  per- 
manent.^ This  is  besides  the  most  convenient 
and  rapid  method.  You  pour  the  preparation 
into  a cup  or  a saucer,  and  then  by  the  aid  of 
a flat  brush,  which  you  will  fill  with  the  fixa- 
tive by  dipping  it  into  the  liquid,  you 
moisten  your  drawing  on  the  wrong  side,  hold- 
ing the  same  by  the  cross  piece  at  the  back. 
When  the  drawing  is  well  covered  with  the 
fixative,  you  must  dry  it  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble, in  the  sun  in  summer,  and  not  far  from 
the  fire  in  winter.  The  fixative,  drying  rap- 

*The  superiority  of  the  fixative  Meusnier  is  incon- 
testible ; its  only  inconvenience  is  the  strong  odor 
which  characterizes  it;  to  avoid  this,  it  will  be  well  to 
fix  your  drawing  near  an  open  window  and  to  keep  the 
bottle  well  corked  when  it  is  not  in  use.  This  fixative 
can  be  obtained  from  any  color  merchant  or  dealer  in 
> artistic  materials. 


58 


CHAECOAL  DEAYv'ING. 


I 


idly,  catches  the  charcoal  dust  on  the  paper, 
makes  it  adhere  and,  so  to  say,  sets  it  in  the 
drawing.  We  point  out  the  use  of  the  cup  as 
most  economical ; but,  if  you  do  n’t  care  for 
that,  you  can  pour  the  liquid  on  the  back 
of  your  drawing  and  spread  it  every-Avhere, 
equally,  with  the  brush.  But  in  this  way  you 
lose  a great  deal  of  your  fixative  and  the  draw- 
ing is  no  better  set. 

Direct  Fixation  (the  fixative  ap][)lied  to  the 
drawing  itself). — Artists  generally  use  for 
this  purpose,  and  wrongly,  we  think,  the 
blowing  apparatus  Bouget.  We  regret  not 
to  be  of  the  opinion  with  regard  to  it  of  M. 
Maxime  Lalanne,  and  these  are  the  reasons 
which  make  us  judge  it  differently.  In  the 
first  place,  direct  fixation  is  far  from  giving, 
instantaneously,  the  promised  result.  You 
must  repeat  the  operation  several  times  and, 
for  this,  you  must  wait  each  time  until  the 
paper  dries,  to  obtain  the  same  permanent 
setting  that  you  get  by  indirect  fixation. 


THE  FUKNITUEE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  59 


Then  the  use  of  this  apparatus  is  not'  easy, 
because  it  must  be  cleaned  every  time  it  is 
used ; otherwise  it  gets  dirty  and  the  capil- 
lary tube,  which  is  the  base  of  the  invention, 
becomes  choked  up.  And,  if  you  blow  too 
quickly  or  if  you  bring  the  instrument  too 
near  the  drawing,  the  atomization  is  not 
complete — a jet  of  the  liquid  may  strike  the 
drawing,  dragging  along  with  it  the  charcoal 
and  making  a smutch  imj)ossible  to  retouch, 
and  in  one  minute  you  may  lose  the  work  of 
several  hours.  Lastly,  blowing  by  the  mouth 
being  necessarily  irregular,  you  can  never 
obtain  an  absolute  regularity  of  the  vapor. 
You  must  give  up  this  instrument  above  all 
in  sketching  from  nature. 

It  results  from  what  we  have  just  said, 
that  direct  fixation  ought  never  to  be  em- 
ployed except  when  it  is  indispensable,  that 
is  to  say,  when  you  wish  to  fix  a design  on 
cloth,  silk,  etc. ; for  a sketch  prepared  for 
painting  or  for  screens,  fans,  and  the  like. 


60 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


In  that  case,  the  best  apparatus  is  that  used 
in  ^nedicine  for  the  atomization  of  mineral 
waters,  obtained  by  the  atomizer  of  rubber, 
invented  by  Galand.  We  know  that  this  in- 
strument is  more  expensive  than  that  of  Roii- 
get  but  it  is  much  less  fragile,  and  gives  so 
much  better  results,  that  it  is  good  economy 
to  employ  it.  Then,  the  wind  not  being  given 
by  the  mouth  but  by  two  balls  pressed  alter- 
nately, the  atomizing  tube  does  not  become 
choked,  and  thus  you  avoid  the  cleaning,  a 
tiresome  operation,  especially  when  working 
from  nature. 


Material  for  the  Country. 

It  is  well  to  reduce,  as  much  as  possible, 
your  material  for  out-door  work,  for  you  never 
know,  in  starting,  if  the  view  which  charms 
you  will  be  near  home  or  if  you  will  be  ob- 


THE  FURNITUEE  OF  THE  ATELIER,  61 


ligecl  to  make  a long  tramp  before  finding  it. 
It  is  a good  habit  to  work  on  your  lap,  and 
thereby  get  rid  of  the  field  easel,  Avhich,  in 
spite  of  all  the  ingenuity  of  the  manufactu- 
rers, is  always  heavy  enough  to  tire  you. 

But  you  will  do  well  always  to  have  a camp- 
stool,  for,  in  sitting  on  the  ground,^  you  are 
often  troubled  by  the  horizon,  which  then  ap- 
pears above  your  eye,  or  by  the  first  planes, 
to  w^hich  you  can  not  give  sufficient  preponder- 
ance. If  you  wish  to  make  careful  studies  or 
harmonious  drawings,  it  is  well  to  provide 
yourself  with  an  umbrella ; for,  if  you  are 
sketching  in  the  open  country  in  the  sun- 
shine, no  matter  what  vigor  you  may  give  to 
your  drawing,  it  will  always  appear  gray  ; you 

*“From  time  to  time,  the  artist  should  stoop,  to  as- 
sure himself  that  the  lines  of  the  landscape  which  he 
has  found  harmonious  when  viewed  standing,  will  pre- 
sent the  same  rhythm  when  he  has  altered  the  perspec- 
tive point  of  view,  by  sitting  down.” — The  Landscape 
Artist  in  the  Fields  by  F.  Henriet. 


62 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


work  it  up  and  you  are  surprised,  on  return- 
ing to  your  atelier,  to  find  that  you  have 
made  a drawing  extremely  black,  recalling 
the  touch  of  the  crayons  of  Conte  or  of  the 
lithographic  pencil ; the  planes  have  no  longer 
their  relative  values  and  your  design  has  the 
fault  of  harshness,  an  unpardonable  fault  in 
Charcoal  Drawing. 

As  to  all  those  boxes  for  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing, made  like  the  field  boxes  for  oil  painting, 
and  in  general  all  apparatus  of  this  sort,  be 
careful  not  to  embarrass  yourself  with  them. 
A few  charcoal  crayons,  a stomp,  two  or  three 
spills,  the  snutf-box  with  the  bread-crumb, 
an  eraser — all  these  can  be  put  in  your  pocket, 
and  it  is  just  because  this  mode  of  drawing  is 
the  least  troublesome  that  it  is  the  most 
agreeable.  There  is  only  the  box  for  the 
frame  that  appears  to  us  really  useful.  This 
is  a sort  of  open  box,  which  has  neither  top 
nor  bottom  and  in  which  you  can  fasten  the 
frames  of  stretched  paper  b^^  means  of  copper 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER.  63 


clamps.  Gret  the  lightest  boxes  possible.  By 
the  help  of  a little  strap  on  the  handle  you 
can  carry  the  little  tin  can  holding  the  fixa- 
tive, and  in  the  same  way  you  can  fasten  the 
camp-stool  and  the  umbrella. 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


STUDY  AFTER  THE  MASTERS. 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MODELS. 

There  is  a sentence  often  repeated  to  those 
who  are  beginning  the  study  of  drawing  or  of 
painting;  this  is,  “Be  yourself,  try  to  be 
original ; success  lies  there.”  Certainly,  when 
well  understood,  this  is  an  absolute  truth. 
But  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  it  is 
useless  to  copy  models  or  that  you  should 
work  from  nature  without  any  previous  study. 

It  is  very  true  that,  by  dint  of  labor  and 


68 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


perseverance,  you  can  reach  good  results  from 
nature,  above  all  if  you  are  endowed  with  a 
special  talent  for  drawing.  But  this  treatise 
is  not  written  for  the  few  exceptional  artists 
by  birth — its  object  is  to  be  useful  to  ama- 
teurs, not  to  interest  artists.  Therefore  we 
tell  the  amateur  that  to  begin  at  once  to  draw 
from  nature  will  be  a mistake  for  him.  He 
should  subject  his  hand  and  his  eye  to  work, 
less  agreeable,  it  is  true,  but  more  useful. 
By  copying  you  obtain,  little  by  little,  a satis- 
factory knowledge  of  the  means  employed  in 
Charcoal  Drawing  and,  from  that  A'ery  knowl- 
edge, you  will  be  less  embarrassed  when  you 
draw  from  nature.  But  to  make  your  copy- 
ing profitable,  it  must  be  seriously  studied 
and  your  models  should  be  chosen  with  great 
care. 

You  should  not  copy  from  engravings  nor 
from  old  lithographs,  for,  says  Allonge, 
“These  landscapes,  however  well  sketched, 
having  the  white  paper  for  the  sky,  whether 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


69 


gray,  blue  or  white,  make  use  of  it  again  for 
lights  on  a road,  for  foliage  in  sunlight,  as 
well  as  for  the  dull  tone  of  tree  trunks,  the 
lights  of  thatch  or  brick,  the  bright  spots  of 
stone  or  plaster.” 

We  do  not  condemn  these  models  alto- 
gether ; there  is  good  in  every  thing,  but 
you  must  know  how  to  profit  by  it.  The  stu- 
dent who  does  not  know  how  to  draw  and 
who  wishes  to  succeed  in  Charcoal  Drawing, 
should  work,  outside  of  his  special  study,  on 
small  copies  in  lead  pencil,  which  will  give 
him  facility  of  hand  and  render  him  more 
skillful  when  he  comes  to  treat  Charcoal 
Drawing  with  delicacy  and  to  give  careful 
details. 

You  can  begin  by  copying  the  landscape 
drawing  books,  method  Cassagne,  but  only 
for  first  models ; for  this  method,  excellent  for 
buildings,  appears  to  us  defective  when  you 
come  to  trees. 

If  you  are  working  for  Charcoal  Drawing, 


70 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


the  particular  study  of  the  leaf  is  not  useful ; 
you  should  habituate  yourself,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  treat  trees  by  masses  and  by 
effects  and  not  by  the  detail  of  the  foliage. 
For  this,  you  may  copy  some  models  from  the 
album  of  Hubert,  taking  care  to  add  a 
graded  background  for  the  sky. 

Lately,  many  persons  have  copied  in  char- 
coal photographs  after  nature ; this  is  very 
bad.  These  photographs,  made  with  care 
and  excellent  guides  for  artists,  since  they 
give  the  exact  and  minute  form  of  the  objects 
reproduced,  force  the  pupil  into  useless  little 
details  and  lead  him  away  from  a large  inter- 
pretation of  nature.  We  may  affirm  this: 
for  the  study  of  Charcoal  Drawing  there  are 
only  two  kinds  of  good  models — reproduc- 
tions of  charcoal  work  by  good  methods,  as 
we  have  had  lately,  such  as  lithophotography 
or  heliography,  or  better  still  in  Paris,  the 
Charcoal  Drawings  themselves,  which  you  can 


STUDIES  AIs'D  LESSONS. 


71 


easily  obtain  either  by  hiring  them  or  by  sub- 
scription. 

This  want  of  good  models  for  drawing, 
and  particularly  for  Charcoal  Drawing,  will 
soon  be  supplied,  thanks  to  the  intelligent  en- 
ergy of  Messrs.  Goupil  & Co.  Foreseeing 
the  important  position  which  this  kind  of 
artistic  work  will  soon  take,  this  house  has 
asked  of  M.  Allonge  a series  of  models  which 
will  form  a course  of  landscape  drawing. 
Nothing  can  be  more  practical  or  more  com- 
plete than  this  collection  of  designs,  where  it 
would  seem  that  the  master  has  surpassed 
himself.  You  will  find  in  this  course  all  the 
examples  and  the  teaching  which  is  necessary 
for  study  from  nature.  All  is  treated  ; trees, 
first  planes,  forests,  river  banks,  mountains 
and  sea-views.  And  it  is  to  be  remarked 
that,  in  this  collection,  each  drawing,  taken 
separately,  forms  a real  landscape,  even  in  the 
first  of  the  series. 

There  are  none  of  the  dry  elements  and 


72 


CHAKCOAL  DEAWING. 


principles  of  the  old  methods.  The  master 
has  undertaken  to  demonstrate  his  principles 
by  charming  the  student  or  the  amateur ; and, 
from  the  opinion  of  those  who  have  seen  the 
originals,  we  can  say  that  he  has  completely 
attained  the  end  which  he  proposed  to  him- 
self. 

The  reproduction  of  these  Charcoal  Draw- 
ings is  a real  marvel.  We  have  shown  the 
proofs  to  several  artists,  and  we  can  state  that 
the  fac  simile  is  so  good  that  almost  every 
one  of  them  has  taken  the  reproduction  for 
a real  Charcoal  Drawing. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  evident  that  this  is 
a great  step  made  in  the  teaching  of  draw- 
ing, and  we  hope  that  this  result  obtained 
in  the  reproduction  of  Charcoal  Drawings, 
will  facilitate  the  introduction  of  the  study 
into  the  public  schools. 

We  advise  the  amateur  to  take  the  draw- 
ings of  M.  Allonge  as  models  and  his  man- 
ner as  their  method,  because  his  designs  are 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


73 


executed  in  so  clear  and  neat  a manner  that, 
by  the  time  you  have  copied  the  second 
drawing,  you  know  the  method  of  the  ar- 
tist. We  do  not  say  this  because  we  are  a 
pupil  of  M.  Allonge,  on  the  contrary  it  was 
because  this  was  our  opinion  that  we  chose 
him  for  a master. 

When,  after  some  months  of  study,  you 
have  acquired  the  manner  of  working,  in  a 
word  the  secret  of  Charcoal  Drawing,  you 
may  try  it  in  every  way.  The  drawings  of 
Appian  and  Lalanne  ought  to  be  taken  at 
the  end  of  your  studies.  The  works  of  these 
two  masters  do  not  present  themselves  clearly 
to  the  mind  in  the  way  of  execution,  and 
in  our  opinion  you  must  have  all  the  talent 
that  they  possess  to  arrive  at  such  results 
by  such  simple  means. 


74 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


Copies  after  Painting. 

The  passage  from  copying  to  original 
work  is  often  difficult,  and  the  student  who, 
by  perseverance,  has  come  to  be  a faithful 
copyist,  does  not  always  succeed  in  giving 
a satisfactory  work  from  nature.  Thus  we 
believe  that  it  is  an  excellent  transition 
work  to  render  a few  oil  paintings  into  char- 
coal. If  in  such  a picture  the  drawing  is 
clear,  if  the  form  is  easy  to  reproduce,  you 
must  still  study  for  yourself  the  values 
which  the  painter  has  rendered,  values  which 
are  the  absolute  bases  of  art.  Moreover, 
the  execution  of  painting  having  nothing  in 
common  with  the  method  of  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing, you  can  profit  by  your  former  work, 
and  learn  gradually  to  take  advantage  of  all 
the  methods  in  your  power. 


i 


WRITTEN  LESSONS. 


LESSON  FIEST. 

SOUVENIE  D’AUVEKS. 

Now,  reader,  that  you  understand  all  the 
accessories  that  you  have  to  employ,  we  are 
going  to  do  our  best  to  teach  you  the  use 
of  them,  by  practicing  together,  if  you  are 
willing.  The  first  drawing  that  we  submit 
to  you.  Souvenir  D’Auvers  (PI.  No.  2),  is 
simple  in  execution ; for  that  reason  we  have 
chosen  it  for  our  first  lesson.^ 

* You  can  obtain  in  Paris,  at  the  shop  of  M.  G. 
Meusnier,  rue  Neuve-Saint-Augiistin,  No.  27,  the  plate 

(75) 


76 


CHAKCOAL  DRAWING. 


In  the  first  j)lace,  you  must  take  the  out- 
side measure  of  your  drawing,  making  four 
lines,  very  light  because  they  are  not  to  re- 
main; then,  when  you  have  the  size  of  your 
work,  Avith  your  charcoal  crayon  cut  or  worn 
flat  and  a little  broad,  pass  a general  tone 
from  left  to  right,  beginning  at  the  top,  and 
that  in  the  most  regular  manner  possible 
and  so  that  there  shall  remain  no  white 
spaces  between  your  touches  in  any  direc- 
tion. The  paper  once  covered,  by  the  aid  of 
your  four  fingers  joined,  or,  better  still  (be- 
cause this  sky  tone  is  very  clear),  by  the  help 
of  your  rag,  spread  your  charcoal,  turning 
from  the  right  to  the  left  and  beginning  at  the 
bottom,  in  order  that  the  rag,  gathering  more 
charcoal  from  the  lower  part,  may  leaAm  }mu  a 
more  vigorous  tone  at  the  top,  Avhich  Avill 

(Souvenir  d’Auvers)  of  the  size  of  the  original,  about 
14  X 11  inches,  and  also  a collection  of  models  and 
progressive  studies,  either  by  hiring  them  or  by  sub- 
scription. 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


77 


make  your  sky  fall  back  and  give  it  the  de- 
sired perspective.  You  have  thus  your  back- 
ground, sky  and  water.  With  some  bread- 
crumb you  must  take  off  all  that  passes  the 
limits  of  your  drawing,  lines  which  should 
already  disappear  under  the  work  of  the  rag ; 
then  you  must  take  the  measure  of  your 
drawing  again,  this  time  without  making 
lines,  for  nature  has  no  outlines  and  Charcoal 
Drawing  permits  you  to  give  form  only  by 
masses,  shadows  and  lights. 

On  the  background  which  you  have  already 
laid,  you  make  your  sketch ; that  is  to  say, 
you  mark  your  masses  lightly  to  obtain  their 
position,  which  you  must  rectify  until  it  is 
very  exact.  For  your  first  trials,  take  mea- 
surements if  you  find  them  necessary;  but, 
when  you  have  a little  more  practice,  your 
eye  ought  to  guide  you,  and,  to  obtain  the 
position  and  size  of  your  objects,  you  will 
simply  compare  one  with  another.  Thus,  in 
the  design  which  we  are  studying,  you  see 


78 


CHAECOAL  DEAWING. 


that  the  ground  from  the  left  to  the  right  is 
at  about  one-third  of  the  whole  height,  start- 
ing from  the  bottom  of  the  drawing,  and  that 
it  grows  gradually  narrower  toward  the  right; 
you  will  indicate  it  by  massing  it  with  a flat 
and  vigorous  tone.  You  mass,  then,  your 
background  much  more  lightly  and  rub  it  in 
with  the  stomp.  The  first  plane  is  a piece  of 
ground  which  is  about  half  way  between  your 
horizon  and  the  bottom  of  your  drawing ; you 
mass  it  in  the  same  manner  as  your  ground  in 
your  second  plane,  but  less  vigorously  in 
the  upper  part,  and  by  passing  your  crayon 
lightly  over  it,  so  as  to  obtain  that  grain 
which  you  observe  in  your  model.  Then 
you  see  that  the  middle  of  your  drawing 
is  occupied  by  the  group  of  willows  which 
are  in  the  strongest  shadow ; indicate  this 
group,  observing  that  its  width  is  about  two- 
thirds  of  its  height,  and  place  the  little  poplar 
on  the  right,  at  its  proper  distance. 

Then  take  the  middle  point  between  this 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


79 


poplar  and  the  right  extremity  of  the  draw- 
ing, where  you  will  place  the  group  of  poplars 
in  the  background,  and  then  draw  all  the  de- 
tails which  are  on  the  right  and  on  the  left 
of  this  mass.  After  this,  make  the  reflec- 
tions in  the  water.  And  here  we  wish  you  to 
notice  that  the  general  tone  of  the  water  is, 
as  in  nature,  a little  more  vigorous  than  the 
tone  of  the  sky;  to  obtain  it,  pass  over,  with 
your  crayon,  a light  tone  which  you  will 
spread  with  your  finger.  The  reflections 
ought  to  be  sketched  very  perpendicular  and 
in  a general  vigorous  tone. 

Here  is,  then,  the  sketching  out  and  the 
putting  in  position  of  your  drawing.  Try  to 
be  exact,  especially  in  your  first  attempts, 
otherwise  you  will  come  to  content  yourself 
with  b.eing  nearly  right,  which  is  a fatal  weak- 
ness. It  is  very  well,  however,  when  you  be- 
gin, to  mass  a little  under  the  model ; that  is 
to  say,  make  your  objects  a little  smaller,  very 
little,  the  tenth  of  an  inch  perhaps,  in  this 


80 


CHAECOAL  DEAWITO. 


case,  so  that,  afterwards,  in  working  out  the 
details  you  may  reach  the  exact  measure  of 
your  model ; otherwise  you  gain  a little  in 
spite  of  yourself  and  make  your  object  too 
large.  Your  drawing  then  loses  in  elegance. 

For  the  details  in  the  execution,  we  pro- 
ceed in  the  same  order  as  for  the  sketching. 
The  sky  is  so  simple  that  we  need  not  en- 
large upon  it ; there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to 
mark  out  the  white  spots  forming  clouds,  with 
bread-crumb.  A light  touch  with  the  stomp 
will  indicate  the  little  cloud  at  the  top  of  the 
drawing  on  the  right. 

Yext,  we  shall  attack  the  ground  on  the 
second  plane,  where  we  find  the  principal  mo- 
tif  of  the  design,  and  for  this  we  begin  by 
drawing  the  line  of  demarkation  between  the 
land  and  the  water ; speaking  artistically,  es- 
tablish the  vigors  wdiich  arrest  the  land  at  the 
edge  of  the  water.  Then,  if  the  general  tone 
is  correct,  draw  with  the  crayon  every  vigor- 
ous detail  as  exactly  as  possible  and,  with 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


81 


bread-crumb  already  a little  soiled,  we  lighten 
the  luminous  parts  of  the  half-tint.  Take  no- 
tice  that  we  say  the  bread-crumb  ought  to  be 
a little  soiled ; this  is  important,  otherwise  we 
shall  have  the  same  light  as  in  the  sky  or  on 
the  brilliant  parts  of  the  water. 

The  ground  being  finished,  you  will  pro- 
ceed with  each  detail  upon  it,  drawing  with 
the  crayon  well  sharpened  and  lighting  them 
up  with  the  spill  or  with  the  stomp,  taking 
care  that  the  vigorous  details,  fence,  branches, 
etc.,  be  very  clearly  and  carefully  placed  and 
that  the  background  be  lighter  than  the 
bright  spots  on  the  land  itself. 

The  working  of  the  group  of  willows  in 
the  middle  is  very  simple.  It  is  made  of  two 
vigorous  tones  lightened  on  each  side  by  the 
spills ; in  the  middle  you  may  use  the  eraser 
to  take  out  some  details  of  the  leaf. 

Here  we  may  remark  that,  in  employing 
the  eraser,  it  is  convenient  to  hold  it  in  a 
particular  manner.  Let  the  handle  of  the 


82 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


eraser  be  under  the  hand,  in  such  way  that 
you  can  perceive  only  the  blade  and  the  end 
of  fhe  handle.  This  is  the  way  it  is  held  by 
clerks  Arhen  they  Avant  to  erase  a large  blot. 

To  return  to  our  draAving ; take  out  Avith 
bread-crumb  the  clean  lights  AAdiich  separate 
tlie  branches  of  the  tree  on  the  right  of  the 
group.  This  done,  draAv  the  middle  poplar 
Amry  perpendicular,  in  AAmrking  up  the  char- 
coal with  a slender  and  close-tAvisted  spill. 

The  poplars  in  the  background  on  the 
right,  should  be  modeled  AAntli  the  stomp  or, 
better  still,  you  can  indicate  Avith  it  the  gen- 
eral mass  Avell  rubbed  in  and  then  cut  out  the 
form  or  the  profile  Avith  bread-crumb.  Then 
you  may  draw  the  ground  on  the  first  plane 
as  you  did  that  on  the  left,  taking  care  to 
make  it  detach  itself  Avell  from  the  Avater 
which  it  divides ; but  do  this  Avithout  making 
any  lines,  solely  by  the  opposition  of  lights 
and  of  Augors. 

The  drawing  may  be  finished  by  the  exe- 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


83 


ciition  of  the  water.  Permit  me,  reader,  to 
repeat  here  what  I said  above;  give  great 
care  to  your  water,  that  is  the  great  charm 
of  Charcoal  Drawing.  A Charcoal  Draw- 
ing without  water  is  like  “a  book  without 
a preface  or  a man  who  goes  out  without  a 
hat;”  consult  a hundred  amateurs,  ninety-nine 
wdll  tell  you  that  your  drawing  lacks  some- 
thing. Therefore  you  can  not  treat  this  ele- 
ment of  success  with  too  much  care.  You 
may  employ  every  means  to  render  the  trans- 
parency and  the  reflection,  of  the  water ; paper 
stomps,  leather  stomps,  cork,  wadding,  etc. 
Yothing,  in  our  opinion,  is  better  than  the 
pith  of  the  elder,  cut  flat.  In  our  drawing 
you  can  spread  the  charcoal  with  the  elder 
pith  very  regularly,  taking  care  that  the 
touches  melt  well  together  as  if  they  were  all 
made  with  one  single  stroke.  Then  give  the 
vigors  which  reflect  the  masses  in  the  shadow, 
and  by  caressing  the  charcoal  with  the  edge 
of  the  eraser  you  have  the  half  tints. 


84 


CHAECOAL  DEAWING. 


Last  of  all,  you  will  give  the  brilliant 
touches  of  sunlight  which  just  strike  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  with  the  edge  of  a ball  of 
bread-crumb  very  carefully  flattened.  AVhen 
your  drawing  is  finished,  set  it  as  we  have 
shown  you  above. 


LESSON  SECOND. 

THE  BKOOK  (SOUVENIR  OF  NORMAN  DY)"! 

You  may  have  remarked,  in  sketching  the 
first  plate,  that  the  backgrounds  are  worked 
up  at  once  with  a spill  or  a paper  stomp ; you 
should  proceed  in  the  same  way  with  the 
brook.  After  having  passed  over  your  paper 
a general  tone  for  the  sky  with  a rag  covered 
with  charcoal  dust,  you  must  model  the 
poplars  in  the  back  ground  with  a spill, 
first  massing  them  very  lightly  with  the 
crayon ; then  commence  your  positions  at  the 
left,  taking  care  to  denote  the  very  delicate 
contours  in  the  drawing. 

The  land,  sketched  as  we  have  told  you 

*See  frontispiece 


86 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


above,  will  then  be  worked  up  with  the  stomp 
and  retouched  with  bread-crumb  on  the  road 
that  leads  to  the  fence.  The  piece  of  ground 
which  forms  the  bank  at  the  right,  is  rubbed 
in  only  in  spots  and  is  modeled  by  the  crayon 
itself.  The  * water  should  be  treated  as  in 
the  other  study.  You  see  that  we  can  give 
very  few  instructions  on  the  manner  of  treat- 
ing this  second  drawing,  since  every  design 
contains  all  the  proceedings  applied  to  Char- 
coal Drawing.  There  is  nothing  to  be  found 
here  which  we  have  not  indicated  above.  It  is 
quite  enough,  then,  for  serious  study,  to  copy 
some  good  models  and  to  notice  well  the 
manner  in  which  the  artist  avails  himself  of 
his  means.  For  this,  the  half-tint  obtained  by 
the  eraser  is  easily  recognized ; let  it  be  the 
line  of  the  water  or  a reed,  its  form  is  always 
clear  and  distinct;  the  bread-crumb,  on  the 
contrary,  gives  a broader  and  more  brilliant 
form ; and  in  the  half-tints  made  by  the  spill, 
you  can  obtain  your  lights  with  the  leather 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


87 


storap,  if  you  wish,  often  less  bright  than 
with  the  bread-crumb. 

What  we  have  just  said,  contradicts  that 
prejudice  which  many  artists  have  against 
Charcoal  Drawing,  which  they  say  is  only  a 
tissue  of  tricks.  There  are  but  few  means ; 
in  this  work  we  do  not  seek  to  hide  the  fact ; 
but  the  artist  must  study  seriously  the  mode 
of  employing  them,  if  he  wishes  to  give  just 
values,  which  is  the  basis  of  painting  and 
above  all  of  landscape  painting. 


GENSE  AL  , LESSON, 


OE  MANNER  OF  TREATING  ANY  SUBJECT. 

There  is  no  landscape,  however  extended 
it  may  he,  which  embraces,  in  itself  alone, 
all  that  nature  can  present.  Therefore,  the 
preceding  lessons  and  the  models  chosen  have 
for  their  object  only  to  designate  the  methods 
employed  for  those  different  subjects. 

If  we  had  to  explain  the  manner  of  rend- 
ering every  landscape,  ten  volumes  and  a hun- 
dred plates  would  not  be  enough. 

We  shall  try,  in  this  chapter,  to  guide  the 
amateur  and  to  give  him  the  fullest  instruc- 
tions possible,  so  that,  through  whatever  coun- 
try he  may  travel,  he  will  not  be  embarrassed 
in  filling  his  album  with  souvenirs. 

(88) 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


89 


The  Sky. 


If  you  have  to  render  a blue  and  clear 
sky,  as  in  summer,  treat  it  simply  with  the 
rag,  as  we  have  described  above;  if  it  is  of 
an  intense  blue,  as  in  winter  in  frosty  weather, 
work  it  up  with  the  thumb  or  with  the  palm 
of  the  hand,  this  will  leave  it  the  vigor  it 
ought  to  have. 

Apropos  to  this,  we  find  a very  interesting 
jiaragraph  in  the  pamphlet  of  M.  Armand 
Charney,  which  is  worth  quoting:  “If  you 
have  a sky  of  clear  blue  or  of  luminous  white, 
be  careful  not  to  cover  your  paper  with  a uni- 
form tint.  The  orientalists,  who  have  brought 
back  to  us  landscapes  resembling  Chinese 
shadows  pasted  on  a background  of  uniform 
blue,  have  fallen  into  a profound  error  in  ima- 


90 


CHAECOAL  DEAWING. 


gining  that  they  can  render  thus  the  depth 
and  intensity  of  the  southern  skies.  Decamps 
and  Delacroix  have  always  avoided  this 
fault — they  are  observers  too  clear  sighted  to 
fall  into  it.  The  purest  sky  is  never  uni- 
form ; if  you  look  at  it  fixedly,  you  will  see 
myriads  of  spots  of  a blue  more  or  less  deep, 
which  have  the  appearance  of  moving.  It  is 
this  resonance,  this  vibration  of  the  light 
which  you  should  try  to  render;  without  it 
there  is  no  air,  no  space,  no  depth  in  the  pic- 
ture. A light  tint  rubbed  over  with  cotton, 
which  you  can  work  up  by  breaking  it  into 
luminous  points  with  bread-crumb,  renders 
very  well  the  effect  of  which  we  have  just 
spoken,  but  you  will  be  very  far  from  succeed- 
ing in  this  always.  Therefore  it  is  better  to 
choose  generally  cloudy  skies,  which  exact 
much  less  care  and  trouble.” 

To  render  an  effect  of  storm,  a cloudy  sky, 
model  your  clouds  with  the  stomp  or  the 
leather,  always  in  the  direction  in  which  they 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


91 


are  moving;  lighten  them  with  bread-crumb 
if  you  wish  to  obtain  those  brilliant  sunlight 
effects  which  every-where  gild  the  sky  before 
or  after  a storm. 

But  above  all,  let  your  tone  of  background 
or  of  azure  be  always  very  smooth,  and  let 
your  clouds  detach  themselves  well,  that  is 
what  will  give  depth  and  movement  to  your 
sky. 


The  Water. 


Water  presents  itself  under  many  aspects  ; 
sleeping,  as  in  a lake,  a pool,  etc.,  it  always 
reflects  the  objects  which  border  it  or  which 
are  near  to  it.  But  the  running  water  of  riv- 
ers does  not  always  reflect  these  objects,  or 
else  it  presents  their  image  in  a thousand 
different  ways. 

At  sunrise  the  reflection  is,  so  to  say,  flat 


92 


CHAKCOAL  DRAWING. 


and  without  brilliancy.  At  noon,  scarcely 
any  reflection ; the  water  is  very  brilliant, 
sometimes  it  is  even  brighter  than  the  sky. 

It  is  in  the  evening,  from  four  o’clock  till 
sunset,  that  water  presents  itself  in  the  man- 
ner most  charming  for  the  artist.  The  re- 
flections then  are  clear  and  calm  and  repro- 
duce objects  as  in  a mirror,  in  all  their  values 
and  their  varieties  of  tone.  For  this  you 
must  use  all  the  resources  of  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing— elder-pith,  leather  stomps,  eraser;  you 
must  avail  yourself  of  them  all  if  you  wish 
to  succeed  in  rendering  the  variety  of  nature. 


The  Ground. 


It  is  not,  accurately  speaking,  the  ground 
itself  which  offers  serious  difficulties  of  exe- 
cution, but  what  the  soil  bears : shrubs. 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


93 


plants,  rocks,  etc.  It  is  especially  difficult  to 
carry  these  details  over  the  ground  so  a.  to 
make  them  a part  of  it  and  cause  you  to  feel 
that  the  one  produces  the  other.  To  succeed 
in  this,  you  must  establish  well  the  ground 
tone  of  your  soil,  and  for  this  take  care  not  to 
leave  any  of  the  white  of  the  paper;  you 
should  use  that  only  when  you  want  a bright 
sunlight  on  a rocky  ground ; for  however 
light  grass  and  other  details  of  the  sort  may 
be,  they  are  far  from  the  brilliancy  of  sun- 
light on  a white  house  or  on  a stone.  It  is 
well  to  be  very  moderate  in  the  use  of  this 
brilliant  tone,  which,  when,  employed,  gives  an 
excellent  result  even  when  it  exaggerates  the 
effect. 


94 


CHAECOAL  DRAWING. 


The  Trees. 

One  of  the  most  troublesome  tasks  of  the 
amateur  is  the  execution  of  foliage.  And  yet 
it  is  very  difficult  to  give  absolute  rules  for 
this  work,  for  at  a certain  distance,  such  a 
distance  as  that  at  which  the  student  generally 
places  himself  to  get  a view,  the  details  of  the 
foliage  disappear  completely ; the  masses 
alone  are  visible.  To  know  how  to  lighten 
these  masses  and  to  maintain  them  on  the 
shadow,  there  the  stud}^  of  foliage  ought  to 
end,  and  working^  after  nature  is  really  the 
only  means  of  acquiring  that  knowledge.  It 
is  in  the  study  of  foliage  above  all  that  almost 
all  the  methods  of  teaching  known  at  this  day 
are  defective.  For,  I repeat,  unless  you  have 
your  tree  completely  in  the  foreground,  you 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


95 


should  not  occupy  yourself  with  tae  foliage, 
and  even  in  that  case  you  should  make  its 
quality  felt  only  by  the  touch  and  not  by 
drawing  it  leaf  by  leaf.  But  if,  on  the  second 
plane,  you  wish  to  indicate  the  foliage  in  a 
mass,  either  lightened  or  in  half-tint,  then  the 
eraser  will  be  very  useful  to  you,  by  employ- 
ing it  simply  in  the  direction  of  the  leaf, 
which  will  give  its  form,  and  by  bearing  on 
more  or  less  forcibl}^,  which  will  give  you  a 
variety  of  lights  that  you  can  render  more 
brilliant  with  bread-crumb. 

You  may  use  also  a paint-brush,  more  or 
less  moistened,  or  even  dry,  but  this  ought 
to  be  employed  only  in  great  moderation. 
This  process,  if  it  is  not  practiced  with  the 
greatest  skill,  gives  a monotonous  stippling 
which  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  rest  of  the 
drawing. 


96 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


Buildings 


Offer  no  serious  difficulty.  You  can  easily 
obtain  their  perspective  by  their  relation  to 
the  objects  which  surround  them.  There  is 
no  need  of  making  a special  study  of  per- 
spective. It  is  well,  in  general,  to  treat 
buildings  largely,  and  for  that,  close  your 
eyes  slightly,  so  as  to  see  only  the  salient 
details. 


Mountains. 


The  sharp  and  picturesque  sites  of  Swit- 
zerland and  of  the  Pyrenees,  so  frequented 
by  tourists,  are  well  suited  to  Charcoal 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


97 


Drawing,  because  of  the  quickness  with 
which  it  seizes  the  effects  always  so  fugitive 
among  mountains.  You  should  distrust  all 
harsh  lines  in  the  treatment  of  such  sub- 
jects, above  all  in  backgrounds  where  the 
profiles  of  the  mountains  cross  each  other 
on  different  planes.  For  the  rest,  mountains 
ought  to  be  treated  with  the  same  vigor  and 
with  the  same  solidity  as  the  ground. 


The  Rocks  and  the  Sea ; the  Sands. 

Which  of  you,  my  readers,  has  not  seen 
those  fine  drawings  of  the  sea-shore,  by  Al- 
longe, the  Souvenirs  of  Brittany,  with  their 
dolmens  and  their  men-hirs,  in  the  midst 
of  that  severe  and  almost  savage  nature  ? 
And  those  coasts  of  Yormandy,  where  the 
master  excels  in  rendering  the  low  tide  sands 
when  the  water  has  gone  out  of  sight? 


98 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


You  may  easily  succeed  in  rendering  the 
sea-shore  itself,  but  you  need  serious  study 
to  render  the  atmosphere  and  its  immensity, 
and  above  all  to  vary  your  drawings  from 
nature.  I need  not  repeat  here  that  rocks 
and  cliffs  should  be  solid  and  vigorous,  but 
there  needs  very  different  work  for  the  sky, 
the  sea  and  the  sand.  The  sea  should  gen- 
erally be  rendered  by  the  paper  stomp  and 
with  a tolerably  vigorous  tone,  the  foam  of 
the  waves  by  bread-crumb.  The  sand  is  to 
be  treated  by  the  thumb  or,  if  you  Avish  to 
obtain  the  grain  of  the  Avet  sand  lighted  up 
by  the  sun,  here  you  may  make  use  of  that 
process  spoken  of  by  various  artists ; that 
is,  to  draAv  your  charcoal  crayon  lightly  over 
your  paper,  so  that  the  grain  may  catch  the 
friable  particles  of  the  charcoal,  and  let  the 
Avhite  of  the  paper  be  seen  betAveen  the  in- 
terstices. 

And  now,  reader,  permit  me  to  close  this 
chapter  by  recommending  to  you  again  A^ariety 


STUDIES  ATs^D  LESSONS. 


99 


in  your  work.  This  is  an  important  point, 
and  for  want  of  taking  account  of  it,  many 
amateurs,  artists  even,  fall  into  monotony 
and  uniformity,  defects  for  which  no  genius 
can  compensate,  especially  in  artistic  work. 


SKETCHES  IK  CHAECOAL. 


Sketches  in  charcoal  ought  to  render  only 
effects.  You  make  a sketch  only  when  you 
want  to  catch  a passing  effect,  or  when  time 
presses  and  does  not  permit  you  to  make  a 
careful  drawing  from  nature.  Look  at  the 
plate  entitled  Sunlight  in  the  Woods.  How 
well  Charcoal  Drawing,  even  when  rapidly 
executed,  can  render  this  impression  of  na- 
ture ! We  can  not  undertake  to  show  how 
such  sketches  are  made ; it  is  there  espec- 
ially that  skill  makes  itself  seen.  In  our 
model,  the  background  is  a rough  surface 
smoothed  over  by  the  thumb,  the  ground 
worked  down  by  the  stomp,  then,  the  trees 
once  drawn  and  the  masses  put  in  place,  the 
(100) 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


101 


artist  obtained  his  sunlio-ht  effects  bv  bread- 
crumb.  We  believe  that  it  would  be  very 
useful,  after  having  made  serious  studies 
from  nature,  to  make  some  of  these  sketches, 
raj3idly  drawn.  In  this  way  you  can  keep 
a great  number  of  impressions  and  remem- 
brances of  nature. 


ON  EETOUCHING 
AFTER  THE  FIXING  OF  THE  DRAWING. 

Charcoal  Drawing  is  minute  work  from 
this  point  of  view,  that  it  sometimes  hap- 
pens that,  after  having  fixed  your  work,  you 
find  it  incomplete  from  want  of  vigor  in  the 
first  planes,  or  else  it  is  too  dry  because  you 
have  kept  it  on  a scale  of  tones  much  too 
dark.  This  latter  trouble  happens  more  fre- 
quently than  the  former,  because  the  fixative 
always  darkens  the  drawing  perceptibly,  and 
if  you  make  your  general  tone  only  slightly 
vigorous,  it  is  lost  in  blackness  after  the 
fixing.  To  obviate  this  inconvenience,  which, 
however,  will  not  present  itself  after  some 
(102) 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


103 


study  and  practice,  you  may  advantageously 
use  the  rubber  crayon,  especially  to  lighten 
the  background. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  drawing  fails 
for  want  of  solidity  or  of  vigor,  you  can 
repeat  certain  touches  with  a very  black 
charcoal  crayon,  such  as  the  natural  branch 
or  twig  well  charred,  or  even  the  black 
crayon  Conte. 

These  vigorous  retouches  made,  you  can 
fix  them  by  the  help  of  the  atomizer,  or  fix 
the  whole  drawing  again ; otherwise,  if  you 
fix  these  touches  only  by  the  ordinary 
means,  the  fixative  laid  on  a second  time 
will  form  a circle  over  the  first  and  make  a 
spot. 

You  may  also  work  up  a Charcoal  Draw- 
ing by  means  of  gouache,^  of  white  crayons 
or  by  some  touches  of  oil,  to  obtain  very 
brilliant  lights;  but  you  should  use  these 


* Gouache — water  colors  mixed  with  gum-water. 


104 


CHAECOAL  DKAWING. 


means  very  scrupulously.  If  you  employ 
oil  colors,  mix  a little  cadmium  or  yellow 
ochre  with  the  silver  white,  which  will  give  a 
tone  at  once  warm  and  very  luminous.  If 
you  have  been  so  imprudent  as  to  make  a 
sketch  without  having  prepared  your  sky  tone, 
you  may  still  obtain  it,  even  after  fixing  your 
work,  by  the  help  of  your  linen  roll  dipped 
into  charcoal  dust,  which  you  can  pass  lightly 
over  your  drawing.  This  will  not  give  a 
great  delicacy,  but  it  will  take  away  the 
crudity  of  the  drawing,  especially  if  it  is 
made  on  white  paper. 


STUDY  FEOM  NATURE 


STUDY  FROM  NATURE. 


CONCLUSION. 

It  is  now,  reader,  that  you  must  endeavor 
to  he  yourself  and  try  to  make  yourself  origi- 
nal. For  that,  forget,  before  nature,  what 
you  have  copied ; do  not  try  to  draw  like  this 
or  that  artist,  but  simply  draw  what  you  see. 

The  manner  of  working  alone  ought  to  re- 
main with  you,  so  that,  your  motif  ohqq  chosen, 
the  execution  will  not  embarrass  you. 

The  first  time  that  you  work  from  nature, 

(107) 


108 


CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 


choose  a quiet  subject,  the  corner  of  a wood,  a 
glimpse  of  a river  or  of  a field.  Avoid 
space,  extent,  in  a word  all  complex  landscape. 
That  will  come  later,  but  take  care  not  to  go 
too  quickly.  I know  very  well  that  the  great 
desire  of  an  amateur,  when  he  goes  to  the 
countiy,  is  to  bring  back  complete  little  land- 
scapes, which  can  be  framed.  But,  I repeat 
it,  a little  patience,  and  instead  of  having 
a gallery  of  your  works  you  will  have,  it  is 
true,  only  a few  drawings,  but  these  will  easily 
find  their  admirers. 

The  first  studies  ought  to  be  studies  of 
trees ; the  tree,  it  has  been  said,  is  the  acad- 
emy of  landscape ; nothing  is  more  true,  and 
he  who  knows  how  to  draw  a tree  well,  that  is 
to  say,  to  construct  it  well  and  to  lighten  u|3 
its  masses,  will  find  no  difficulty  when  he 
attempts  a whole  landscape.  Water,  sky, 
buildings,  all  present  their  difficulties  it  is  true, 
but  the  tree  is  and  always  will  be  the  serious 
difficulty  in  landscape,  since  it  is  the  study 


STUDY  FROM  NATURE. 


109 


which  gives  back  the  least  result  from  skill 
in  work  or  from  good  methods.  A few  build- 
ings drawn  with  care,  you  have  them  all ; a 
few  borders  of  the  water  carefully  studied, 
your  waters  will  always  be  transparent,  and 
your  skies  will  leave  nothing  to  desire  if  you 
begin  by  treating  them  simply. 

But  every  tree  bears  in  itself  its  mark 
of  originality ; the  oak  has  a thousand  ways 
of  being  broad  and  powerful ; the  supple 
and  elegant  poplar,  the  willow,  the  elm,  the 
aspen,  the  plane-tree  change,  a thousand 
times,  their  form  and  aspect,  from  one  sea- 
son to  another.  Therefore  they  must  be 
studied  with  the  greatest  care ; watch  them 
even  when  they  put  on  certain  bizarre  forms, 
if  you  wish  to  understand  them  well,  and 
never  forget  that  you  must  always  build  up 
your  tree,  no  matter  how  lightly,  before 
marking  out  its  masses,  or  putting  in  its  ef- 
fects. In  recalling  your  last  lesson,  you  will 
remember  that  each  object  ought  to  be  ren- 


110 


CHAUCOAL  DEAWIXG. 


dered  differently,  this  ahv£iys  happens  in 
nature.  The  trees  themselves  on^ht  to  he 
treated  after  their  kind.  Kender  the  willow 
h}^  light  rubbings ; the  oak  with  vigorous, 
nay,  brutal,  masses  ; the  poplar  with  energy 
in  touch,  for  it  is  a tree  of  strong  tonality, 
but  give  to  this  touch  the  delicacy  and  the 
suppleness  which  characterize  the  poplar. 

I will  not  go  back  upon  each  detail. 
Try  above  all  to  make  your  drawing  har- 
monize in  all  its  parts,  and  after  some 
months  of  study  from  nature,  you  will  ar- 
rive at  the  best  results,  as  I promised  you 
in  the  beginning  of  this  book ; nay  more, 
at  better  results  than  you  can  have  hoped 
for  in  the  beginning. 

Here,  dear  reader,  is  the  summing  up 
of  all  the  instruction  that  I have  received 
and  that  I transmit  to  you.  May  it  make 
of  you  what  it  has  made  of  me,  an  amateur, 
a lover  and  an  admirer  oh  Charcoal  Draw- 
ing and  of  its  artists. 

O 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Pages. 

Translatob-’s  Preface,  . . . . . . 7 

Preface,  . . . . . . _ . . . 9 

ORIGI^^  OF  CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 

Charcoal -applied  to  the  human  figure,  ....  15 

Charcoal  applied  to  landscape,  ‘ . . , . 20 

FURNITURE  OF  THE  ATELIER. 

Of  the  Material  of  the  Atelier, 33 

The  Easel,  . . . . . • . . . ' . 34 

The  Frame,  ..........  37 

The  Stretcher,  ........  40 

The  Charcoal  Crayons,  . 42 

The  Paper, 45 

Stomps,  Spills,  Punk,  Wadding,  Linen  or  Woolen  Rags, 

Elder  Pith,  the  Employment  and  the  Preservation 

of  Bread-Crumb, 49 

The  Rag, 51 

(111) 


112 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


The  Bread-Crumb, 53 

The  Eraser, 54 

The  Fixative,  .........  55 

Of  the  Material  for  Country  Work,  ....  60 


STUDIES  AND  LESSONS. 


Pages. 

Study  after  the  masters.  The  choice  of  models,  . . 67 

Copies  from  paintings,  .....  74 

Written  lessons, 75 

Lesson  first,  . 75 

Lesson  second, 85 

General  lesson,  ......  88 

The  Sky, 89 

The  Water,  ........  91 

The  Ground, 92 

Trees, 94 

Buildings, 96 

Mountains,  ........  96 

The  Rocks  and  the  Sea ; The  Land,  ...  97 

Sketches  in  Charcoal,  ......  100 

Of  Retouches  after  the  fixing  of  the  drawing,  . . 102 

Study  from  nature,  . . . i . . 104 


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